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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. |
One and thirty years – Link No. 42 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
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| 2 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. |
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| 3 And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherahs, and the graven images, and the molten images. |
In the eighth year – 651 BC, parallel to 1869 AD, when the editor of Zion's Watch Tower first began to search the Scriptures for the true plan of God. R3574:4*
While he was yet young – An example of the proper course for every young person in that the heart should be given to the Lord in the days of youth before evil experiences have come. R4838:5
He began to seek – It is one thing to be well disposed and another thing entirely to consecrate the heart to the Lord. R2390:3
In the twelfth year – By the time he was twenty, Josiah's religious convictions were so deep and fixed that he dared to begin the work of reformation. R4837:3, R3607:2
It is a great mistake to assume that children must first "sow wild oats" before they can appreciate righteousness. R4837:6
He began to purge – Under the Law every king of Israel had a responsibility to oppose idolatry with violence because the kingdom typically represented God and his reign of righteousness. But when fleshly Israel was cast off, all such laws were made null and void. R3607:3
With spiritual Israel each heart has its own dominion to conquer, to clear of idols. R3607:5
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| 4 And they broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the sun-pillars that were on high above them he cut down; and the Asherahs and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and strewed it upon the graves of those that had sacrificed to them; |
Brake down the altars – As it was with Josiah's work, so it should be with all who present themselves to the Lord. They should begin by breaking off their sins, destroying the fleshly idols of the heart. R2390:5
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| 5 and he burned the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. |
Burnt the bones – This work of reform had been prophesied for him years before (1 Kings 13:1-3; 2 Kings 23:15-17). R3607:3
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| 6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their ruins round about; |
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| 7 and he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherahs and the graven images into powder, and cut down all the sun-pillars throughout the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem. |
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| 8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the chronicler, to repair the house of Jehovah his God. |
In the eighteenth year – 641 BC, parallel to 1879 AD, the date of the founding of Zion's Watch Tower. R3574:4*
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| 9 And they came to Hilkijah the high priest, and they delivered to them the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
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| 10 And they gave it into the hand of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who wrought in the house of Jehovah to reinstate and repair the house: |
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| 11 they gave it to the carpenters and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and timber for the joists, and to floor the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. |
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| 12 And the men did the work faithfully. And over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, for the oversight; and all these Levites were skilled in instruments of music. |
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| 13 They were also over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that worked in any manner of service. And of the Levites were the scribes, and officers, and doorkeepers. |
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| 14 And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkijah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by Moses. |
Found – In the process of the cleaning up and restoring of the Temple services commanded by King Josiah. R3608:2
A book – Possibly including the five books of Moses and the book of Judges, including the original copy of Deuteronomy written by Moses' own hand. R4850:3, R3608:3, R2390:6
Now, in due time, the Word of God is being found, shining with wonderful brilliancy upon the path of the just. R4851:5
Law of the LORD – The Word of the Lord was lost during the Dark Ages, resulting in confusion and deterioration of spiritual vitality. His Word is found now in the sense of being easily accessible. R3609:3
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| 15 Then Hilkijah spoke and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkijah gave the book to Shaphan. |
Shaphan the scribe – His position corresponded somewhat to the Secretary of State at the present time. R3608:2
In the house of the LORD – King Ahaz had caused the manuscripts to be burned, but in God's providence one copy of the Law was buried under a pile of stone and rubbish in one of the rooms surrounding the Court of the Temple. R3608:2
In one sense, the Word of the Lord is still hidden, covered with a thick coating of false teaching and human tradition. R3609:4
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| 16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king. And moreover he brought the king word again saying, All that was committed to the hand of thy servants, they do; |
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| 17 and they have emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen. |
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| 18 And Shaphan the scribe informed the king saying, Hilkijah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read out of it before the king. |
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| 19 And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments. |
The king had heard – Due to the long period of idolatry preceding Josiah's work of reformation, the king may have never heard of the divine Law up to this time. R4850:3
To the masses of the people today, God's Book is lost. R4851:1
Words of the law – He realized that the nation of Israel had committed the very sins recorded in Deuteronomy 28, and that therefore they were subject to the very penalties therein specified. R3608:3
Rent his clothes – The tearing of the loose outer garment in olden times was a symbol of distress, perplexity or fear. R3608:3
So it is with the Christian who at last discovers the true meaning of the great law of love, and feels his shortcomings. R2391:3
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| 20 And the king commanded Hilkijah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, |
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| 21 Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book. |
Wrath of the LORD – Deuteronomy 28 is a statement of the penalty due Josiah's kingdom because of idolatry preceding his day. R4851:1
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| 22 And Hilkijah and they that the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokehath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter of the town; and they spoke with her to that effect. |
Went to Huldah – Instead of Jeremiah or Zephaniah, perhaps to ascertain whether she would confirm their public prophecies of coming judgment upon the nation. R2391:1
The prophetess – God requires faithfulness on the part of female as well as male stewards in the use of all their talents. R1549:4
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| 23 And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me, |
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| 24 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. |
Evil upon this place – It was too late for any national reformation, as it is now too late for the reformation of Christendom. R2391:4
Curses – Evils. R3608:5
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| 25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my fury shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. |
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| 26 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel touching the words which thou hast heard: |
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| 27 Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah. |
Thine heart was tender – Words of comfort and consolation for the king himself. R2391:4
The Lord's promise is comforting to all those who mourn in Zion, who are out of sympathy with evil and unrighteousness. R2391:6
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| 28 Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again. |
To thy grave – Qeber, tomb, place of interment. E348
In peace – The king, and presumably others who manifested a similar spirit, would be preserved from the trouble. It would not come at a time and manner as to involve them. R4851:1, R3608:5
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| 29 And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. |
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| 30 And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah. |
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| 31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book. |
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| 32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it2.And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. |
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| 33 And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel, --to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers. |
All the abominations – The purging from idolatry was still more thoroughly carried out and the work of reformation made more deep. R4851:1
They departed not – The majority of the Israelites were swayed by the example of the king, without any clear moral and religious sentiments of their own. R3608:6
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